In a recent conversation with a colleague, we got onto the topic of welfare. A conservative politician in my home state of Nebraska running for Senate, Jon Bruning, had made comments comparing our state's poor on welfare programs to "scavenging raccoons". My colleague admitted that was wrong, but went on to say that he felt that "most unemployed" were simply lazy and too willing to live off of "government handouts". This characterization, that a majority of our country's poor are simply lazy; unwilling to work hard enough to support themselves that they prefer to living in government subsidized housing, collect unemployment benefits and, use Medicaid for insurance, is at the very heart of our country's implosion. That conservative lawmakers, pundits, and citizens can look at our record number of people living in poverty, 46 million people and fully one sixth of our nation, and say, "You're lazy. Get a job. Work harder," is unthinkable. There's nothing compassionate about that brand of conservatism, and those people espousing that belief should be ashamed.

Tea Party Rep. Steve King (R-IA) went on a rant on the House floor Thursday, railing against what he called, "a nation of slackers." He criticized much of our national social safety net, including food stamps and heat fuel subsidies, but he was particularly irked by unemployment insurance, which he called, "welfare for people who don't work." King characterized welfare as, "The United States of America borrows money and hands it to people and tells them, you don’t have to work for this. You don’t have to produce anything for this." Welfare programs have often been called "handouts" by conservatives railing against the injustice of our government giving the unemployed and the poor predetermined assistance. "We can't have a nation of slackers," he told congress, summing up the problem like this; Americans won't do certain jobs so we import people from other countries to do those jobs and then borrow money to pay welfare for the Americans that won't work. I'd like Rep. Steve King to say that to the hundreds of thousands of over-qualified individuals across the country that are working jobs far beneath them just so they can continue to put food on the table.

If Americans are concerned about lawmakers that are "disconnected" or "out of touch", people like Job Bruning and Steve King are prime examples. The fact of the matter is that 46 million people are living below the poverty line; that's a household of four making less than $23,300 a year. Most of these individuals are now "working poor", maintaining jobs that pay so little that they have to get government assistance to stay afloat. As for the unemployed, there are roughly $14 million out of work, many of whom aren't even collecting unemployment anymore because it's run out. For these individuals, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are 4.32 unemployed people for every job opening. That means that if all of those "slackers" were able to fill those job openings, there would still be almost 11 million people out of work.

There will always be a culture of poverty that produces people "reliant on the system" for their basic needs, but to characterize "most" of our nation's poor as slackers is criminal. At a time when job growth is stagnant and more and more people are succumbing to economic hardship, job loss, bankruptcy, and skyrocketing healthcare prices; for a US lawmaker to look at that enormous number of people and characterize "most" of them as slackers, or lazy, is criminal. Pundits and talking heads like Rush Limbaugh may spread this kind of poison in an effort to drum up controversy and spike rhetoric, and his listeners might repeat it thinking they've got a handle on the "real problem". The individuals we elect, however, should be at least competent enough to see through baseless ideology, and at least responsible enough not to spread this kind of vitriol. I would challenge anyone that feels that our nation's poor are just refusing to work to actually go down to the homeless prevention agency where my wife works, and to meet the people there. They might be surprised at the stories they hear.